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Heavily armed police guard as people watch during the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade || AP Photo

Joe Dowd: Life and freedom go on in Lower Manhattan

By: Joe Dowd November 2, 2017Comments Off on Joe Dowd: Life and freedom go on in Lower Manhattan

When the news broke Tuesday afternoon I called my daughter, who works in Lower Manhattan. Two other colleagues in my office had to text their kids, 60 miles away. They were visibly shaken.

Some twisted piece of slime claiming special knowledge of God’s will forced me to check to see if my kid was safe.

He shouted “Allahu akbar!” How dare he?

That’s what this twisted deviant shouted in Arabic: “God is great,” as he emerged from a rental truck Tuesday after plowing down innocent people in Lower Manhattan. He killed eight; their only transgression was enjoying a bright, blue Tuesday afternoon.

If there is a God – and believe me I’ve struggled with this question my entire adult life – I think this sick piece of human garbage knows nothing of what he uttered, a concept he and his ilk could never understand. You’d have to read a little theology to get it; clearly he hasn’t.

A young cop from Long Island with nerves of steel put the terrorist down with a well-placed gunshot to the abdomen. Police stormed to the scene and took this filth into custody. The God I know allows for self-defense. He calls upon brave police officers and firefighters to stare down madmen and mayhem on Manhattan streets, most especially in site of hallowed ground.

My daughter’s fine, by the way. She finished her shift and took the subway home, just like any other day. Freedom rides the J Train, the N, the R and the Q.

The City of New York rose up as one. Bystanders came to the aid of strangers. First responders arrived in force. No panic; only resolve. We don’t panic in New York. We withstand acts of terror and forces of nature with equally steeled determination. They will not stop us.

For some of us, God is truly great and works through heroes, great and small.

Other cities would have cancelled the parade but not New York. The annual Halloween Parade is a tradition of inclusion and a celebration of diversity. This is the Big Town; the party, the show, must go on.

Huge crowds descended on The Village, not far from the afternoon’s senseless tragedy. A massive police presence assured thousands of people that New York was still up and running, open for business and not afraid of anything. A colorful holiday with a pagan flair screamed out to all the world, “Allahu akbar.”

Freedom was on parade through the West Village Tuesday night.

“Allahu akbar’’ appears three times in one English translation of the Holy Quran. It says “…Magnify Him with all magnificence, Allahu-akbar.”

And another lone wolf ends up a miserable failure. He’ll have plenty of time to contemplate his apostasy waiting to die in federal prison.